A. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to the art of extruded reclosable bags and more particularly to a reclosable bag having fastener profiles with finger guides for interlocking the profiles and secondary closure means for insuring that the interlocked profiles do not open inadvertently.
B. Description of the Prior Art
Reclosable bags used for example for storing household goods are typically made of polyethylene. As shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,416,199 to Imamura commonly assigned with the present invention, a reclosable bag may be formed of two opposed walls equipped at the mouth with fastener profiles. These profiles include a male profile attached to one wall and a female profile on the other wall. The profiles are shaped so that when they are aligned and pressed together into an engaging relationship they form a continuous closure for the bag. The bag may be opened by pulling the walls apart thereby separating the profiles. Various geometric shapes and arrangements for such profiles are shown in Re. U.S. Pat. Nos. 28,969; 3,323,707; 4,212,337; 4,363,345; 4,561,108; and 4,812,056. In addition U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,736,496 and 5,012,561 disclose reclosable bags with profiles and internal ribs adjacent to the profiles. U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,539 discloses a reclosable bag with interlocking profiles, internal guiding ribs disposed adjacent to the profiles, and stabilizing beams disposed on an outside surface of the bag wall. U.S. Pat. No. 3,338,285 discloses a reclosable bag having several parallel interlocking male and female profiles. In general, the profiles must be such as to provide relatively high resistance to opening from inside the bag while rendering the bag relatively easy to open from the outside.
One problem with the prior art reclosable bags is that their closures are sometimes not strong enough to hold large or heavy articles, and as a result the profiles may separate inadvertently during use. A further problem is that it is sometimes difficult to close such bags particularly large bags where the fingers of a user may drift off the profiles resulting in the closing pressure not being directly applied to portions of the closures.